I was saying this exact thing but about Chris Jericho. When Jericho left WWE in (05 I think) and was gone for almost three years he let TNA use two of his songs for TNA ppvs and Chris’s face even appeared in the hype packages singing the theme songs and it’s a real shame they couldn’t get him. Just imagine a young still prime Chris Jericho vs young AJ styles, young Samoa Joe, young Kazarian. Those three years or so when Jericho wasn’t in WWE could’ve been amazing if they got him to sign.
Oh no that match was recorded by fans just search up rey mysterio vs aj styles 5 star wrestling and it was a week or 2 before style went to wwe and I got to meet him the next night after there match
It was the best thing for Rey. We definitely DID NOT want to see him tarnished by The Alliance. Now... he might have been positively booked like Rob Van Dam.... but it was clear ECW guys got more positive roster effect than WCW guys. Paul Heyman might have gone to bat for Rey as a former ECW guy, but I fear he might have been booked more like The Hurricane
Say what you want, but The Hurricane was great. Genuinely. Yes, he was comic relief. Yes, he didn't have runs he maybe should have had. But the man was just fun. And at the end of the day, as a viewer, THAT should be whats important. We all know it's scripted. Having a belt doesn't actually mean anything. You didn't go in there and legit knock a guy out, or break his ankle, or hit him in the face with a sledgehammer. What should matter to fans is having fun. And let us not forget, he was Rock's final legit match as a full-time contract, and got put over by Rock.
@@macdaddymario Oh, don't get me wrong, I LOVED The Hurricane. My only issue is that is not how you book a Rey Mysterio. He needed to be legitimate from the get-go.
Vince did one thing WCW never did and it turned Rey from a fan favorite who could warm up the crowd to a world champion caliber performer, and that's to simply market his mask. It feels so obvious now, and that's because it was obvious back then, WCW was just dumb
Rey Mysterio and Juventud Guerrera (as fans) attended the Final Oval Tron Smackdown at STAPLES Center on August 7th, 2001. Me and my bro saw them standing in the lobby we said what's up to them. I remember they were eating McDonalds (in the arena) and a group of fans were standing near them as they ate their food lmao. What a cool moment. Nobody really knows this information.
It's sad that they can't even acknowledge Benoit as Vince and the WWE were 100% responsible for what happened to him. Vince worked his wrestlers like dogs, never really giving them time to recover from injuries unless they had to have surgery to repair bones, muscles, or ligaments. Yes no one knew just how bad repeated head injuries really were, but they knew enough to know that people needed time to recover and Vince didn't allow that. He created a fear that if you took time to recover from injuries, you'd lose your spot and possibly your job in the company.
@@Joreelif Vince was 100% responsible then Benoit wouldn't be the only guy who murdered his family* i think he had head trauma yes but blaming someone else is ridiculous
@@plus_sign Vince's response was to erase Benoit's legacy which included years of great matches. He wanted to shove it under the rug and pretend he had nothing to do with what happened. The WWE and Vince were very much responsible for what happened by not taking better care of their workers and creating a work environment where the workers were scared to take the time to recover properly. If you notice after the Benoit incident, they suddenly changed many things because they knew they'd screwed up badly and knew they could be sued by OSHA for how they handled work place injuries.
I remember seeing Rey’s first rise to prominence in 1996. I was 14 at the time. The mind blowing thing is that Rey was only 22. And even today, he’s still going at a high level. Continued good heath to you Rey. 🍻
Ultimo had a botched arm surgery during his time in WCW which hindered him after that athletically. He could still go, but not at the level he could before. He wanted to do things in WWE he couldn't do in WCW, Madison Square Garden, and Wrestlemania. So it was likely a bucket list/legends deal kind of partnership between he and the WWE.
WWE didn’t want to bring him over until his contract expired because as long as he didn’t sign a new contract time warner was still paying him and if he signed a new contract his old one became invalid. So wwe told him to rest relax, spend time with your family and heal up and when it’s time to negotiate they will.
What I find most interesting is the implication that guys like Rey were just desperate to go to WWF by the turn of the Millenium. Like holy hell did WCW screw up badly.
Rey is too nice to bash anybody, but he wanted to request his release the same time the radicalz did, a few others as well like Shane Douglas also. But as he said here, he was always told that WWE wouldn't sign smaller guys like him, so he accepted that WCW was the best he could do.
Recall reading years back that Rey's merchandise sales where not far off from Cena's during the height of his career. I stopped enjoying Rey's in-ring around 2012 but I respect he's the greatest masked wrestler in my lifetime.
Ultimo will always be my fave wrestler of all time. Supposedly he would have got more of a push in WWE but he specifically requested a year's contract and they didn't feel that was enough time to build him...also that he wasn't confident enough in his English to do promos/interviews (and still isn't really).
In late 2001 and first half of 2002 Rey was working in Mexico and some independent shows. Was his WCW contract just keeping him from being able to appear on TV in a wrestling capacity?
His contract was under TimeWarner so WWE had the option to buy it out. However Rey still got paid a lot of money compared to most upper mid card stars in WWF at that time. That’s why him, Hogan, Hall & Nash, Goldberg and others didn’t come over right away cuz the money was just too much for WWF to buy those contracts out.
I dont know if that was in the contract, or if Time Warner just didn't care as long as WWE didn't get a performer for free, but yeah others were in the same boat, like Scott Steiner
@@therealDJG I understand that he wasn't on WWE TV until the contract ended. But he was working indie and CMLL dates when he was still under contract to WCW. So was the WCW contract no compete part just for appearing on US television?
That was just 2001. The only bad WCW burial of 2001 was DDP. Nobody really cared about the other WCW guys. When Rey and the NWO came in 2002 and Goldberg in 2003, that was when he got the great WCW guys.
The funny thing is Ray looks small but hes taller then I thought at 5.6" Before knowing that I meet him thing that he be my hight a or close to it as im short too but nope hes taller then me lol
Bro its Survivor Series Season, Monday Night RAW better be controversial, drama packed, new debuts, a whole lot of good wrestling. We need something to follow something to watch Triple H?
Rey vs AJ in the mid 00s would’ve been amazing
Oh god, this would have been sick.
I was saying this exact thing but about Chris Jericho. When Jericho left WWE in (05 I think) and was gone for almost three years he let TNA use two of his songs for TNA ppvs and Chris’s face even appeared in the hype packages singing the theme songs and it’s a real shame they couldn’t get him. Just imagine a young still prime Chris Jericho vs young AJ styles, young Samoa Joe, young Kazarian. Those three years or so when Jericho wasn’t in WWE could’ve been amazing if they got him to sign.
We got AJ vs Rey at an indy show after Rey left WWE the first time. It was a phenomenal match. Much better than their WWE encounter.
@@GR8NE55 I assume it wasn't recorded though?
Oh no that match was recorded by fans just search up rey mysterio vs aj styles 5 star wrestling and it was a week or 2 before style went to wwe and I got to meet him the next night after there match
It was the best thing for Rey. We definitely DID NOT want to see him tarnished by The Alliance. Now... he might have been positively booked like Rob Van Dam.... but it was clear ECW guys got more positive roster effect than WCW guys. Paul Heyman might have gone to bat for Rey as a former ECW guy, but I fear he might have been booked more like The Hurricane
Imagine if they brought bro over without the mask and the beanie…. Could’ve been so disastrous
Bringing Rey over while still unmasked and during that storyline would have probably cost him and WWE millions.
@ facts bro woulda been a jobber, they probably throw him and scotty2hotty in a team lmao the horror
Say what you want, but The Hurricane was great. Genuinely. Yes, he was comic relief. Yes, he didn't have runs he maybe should have had.
But the man was just fun. And at the end of the day, as a viewer, THAT should be whats important. We all know it's scripted. Having a belt doesn't actually mean anything. You didn't go in there and legit knock a guy out, or break his ankle, or hit him in the face with a sledgehammer. What should matter to fans is having fun.
And let us not forget, he was Rock's final legit match as a full-time contract, and got put over by Rock.
@@macdaddymario Oh, don't get me wrong, I LOVED The Hurricane. My only issue is that is not how you book a Rey Mysterio. He needed to be legitimate from the get-go.
Vince probably saw Rey as a profitable gimmick, he saw and was like oh the kids will see him as a super hero, I can make mad money off him!
And did, turned him into a world champion
He did that’s why he wanted him in the mask again
Vince did one thing WCW never did and it turned Rey from a fan favorite who could warm up the crowd to a world champion caliber performer, and that's to simply market his mask. It feels so obvious now, and that's because it was obvious back then, WCW was just dumb
@@sethh5106whole reason they want the lucha bros
So then why didn't they sign him RIGHT WHEN WCW went down? Why wait a year for it?
Rey Mysterio and Juventud Guerrera (as fans) attended the Final Oval Tron Smackdown at STAPLES Center on August 7th, 2001. Me and my bro saw them standing in the lobby we said what's up to them. I remember they were eating McDonalds (in the arena) and a group of fans were standing near them as they ate their food lmao. What a cool moment. Nobody really knows this information.
CVV coming in with a save by saying the radicalz as a way for Rey to avoid saying Benoit 0:50-0:55
That’s why Chris is the best pure journalist in the business today.
It's sad that they can't even acknowledge Benoit as Vince and the WWE were 100% responsible for what happened to him. Vince worked his wrestlers like dogs, never really giving them time to recover from injuries unless they had to have surgery to repair bones, muscles, or ligaments. Yes no one knew just how bad repeated head injuries really were, but they knew enough to know that people needed time to recover and Vince didn't allow that. He created a fear that if you took time to recover from injuries, you'd lose your spot and possibly your job in the company.
@@Joreelif Vince was 100% responsible then Benoit wouldn't be the only guy who murdered his family* i think he had head trauma yes but blaming someone else is ridiculous
@@plus_sign Vince's response was to erase Benoit's legacy which included years of great matches. He wanted to shove it under the rug and pretend he had nothing to do with what happened. The WWE and Vince were very much responsible for what happened by not taking better care of their workers and creating a work environment where the workers were scared to take the time to recover properly.
If you notice after the Benoit incident, they suddenly changed many things because they knew they'd screwed up badly and knew they could be sued by OSHA for how they handled work place injuries.
@@Joreel Vince didn’t give a damn about OSHA, as OSHA does not extend to independent contractors.
I remember seeing Rey’s first rise to prominence in 1996. I was 14 at the time. The mind blowing thing is that Rey was only 22. And even today, he’s still going at a high level. Continued good heath to you Rey. 🍻
Rey dodged a bullet. He could have been caught up in the invasion and that would have likely killed his gimmick in WWE forever.
Rey coming in was crazy for me. I was over the moon. Ultimo Dragon too even though they didn’t do anything with him
Ultimo had a botched arm surgery during his time in WCW which hindered him after that athletically. He could still go, but not at the level he could before. He wanted to do things in WWE he couldn't do in WCW, Madison Square Garden, and Wrestlemania. So it was likely a bucket list/legends deal kind of partnership between he and the WWE.
WWE didn’t want to bring him over until his contract expired because as long as he didn’t sign a new contract time warner was still paying him and if he signed a new contract his old one became invalid. So wwe told him to rest relax, spend time with your family and heal up and when it’s time to negotiate they will.
Rey is awesome
What I find most interesting is the implication that guys like Rey were just desperate to go to WWF by the turn of the Millenium.
Like holy hell did WCW screw up badly.
Rey is too nice to bash anybody, but he wanted to request his release the same time the radicalz did, a few others as well like Shane Douglas also. But as he said here, he was always told that WWE wouldn't sign smaller guys like him, so he accepted that WCW was the best he could do.
Recall reading years back that Rey's merchandise sales where not far off from Cena's during the height of his career. I stopped enjoying Rey's in-ring around 2012 but I respect he's the greatest masked wrestler in my lifetime.
Wwe really dropped the ball on Ultimo Dragon. That dude is on another level. He shoulda been as big as Rey
Ultimo will always be my fave wrestler of all time. Supposedly he would have got more of a push in WWE but he specifically requested a year's contract and they didn't feel that was enough time to build him...also that he wasn't confident enough in his English to do promos/interviews (and still isn't really).
Rey was always a fabulous worker.
In late 2001 and first half of 2002 Rey was working in Mexico and some independent shows. Was his WCW contract just keeping him from being able to appear on TV in a wrestling capacity?
His contract was under TimeWarner so WWE had the option to buy it out. However Rey still got paid a lot of money compared to most upper mid card stars in WWF at that time. That’s why him, Hogan, Hall & Nash, Goldberg and others didn’t come over right away cuz the money was just too much for WWF to buy those contracts out.
I dont know if that was in the contract, or if Time Warner just didn't care as long as WWE didn't get a performer for free, but yeah others were in the same boat, like Scott Steiner
@@therealDJG I understand that he wasn't on WWE TV until the contract ended. But he was working indie and CMLL dates when he was still under contract to WCW. So was the WCW contract no compete part just for appearing on US television?
Rey humble as always
Good video🔥💥
One of the best "small guy to make in WWE" stories.
And he became a world champ 💪
Damn and Rey outlasted everybody.
❤
To let his contract run out
Also without Rey, Rhea probably wouldn’t be a wrestler herself!
Funny how the smallest WCW guys ended up having the most successful WWE careers, (Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero)
And they say vince buries all WCW talent
That was just 2001. The only bad WCW burial of 2001 was DDP. Nobody really cared about the other WCW guys. When Rey and the NWO came in 2002 and Goldberg in 2003, that was when he got the great WCW guys.
The funny thing is Ray looks small but hes taller then I thought at 5.6" Before knowing that I meet him thing that he be my hight a or close to it as im short too but nope hes taller then me lol
Who's that jumping out the sky, r.e.y mysterio
if they need to pay anyway then work and negotiate after
All Rey had to do was mention "making a little bit too much" and it all clicked; Vince didn't want a cinnamon midget either.
Bro its Survivor Series Season, Monday Night RAW better be controversial, drama packed, new debuts, a whole lot of good wrestling. We need something to follow something to watch Triple H?
Don’t be on this show! He was laughing at your head! Next to Dominick